Xavier Guillaume Mertz

Serving as the official record of Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition (AAE), this film records the 600-mile expedition to the Magnetic South Pole between December 1911 and March 1913. It documents the SY Aurora's departure from Hobart, wildlife at Macquarie Island and Cape Denison, the building of Mawson's Huts, and the daily hardships endured by the team. As one of the world's earliest surviving feature-length documentaries, the footage stands as a foundational milestone in polar cinematography and non-fiction filmmaking.